Till Pets Do Us Part
by Jesspikapal
Summary: Cilan and Iris find a convinient excuse to take their friend's pets out once Chili and Cress begin arguing... My entry for AAML's contest! Please, like it, hate it, just damn well rate it!


**Hey guys, it's me, Jesspikapal, but you probably already knew that! ;)**

**So anyways, I'm here because I'm entering a contest since one of the specifications was "Wishfulshipping" and I felt I had a fair shot. So... wish me luck! I'll probably need it, seen as though this will most likely be an epic fail... ^^;**

**Anyways, review please! :D**

**~Jess~**

**X x**

**Companions - "You want loyalty? Get a dog..."**

**X x**

Peering at the Pokemon in front of her, Iris grinned readily, watching as the larger dog-like creature licked the smaller critter behind the ears, slowly, gradually cleaning it. A dominant Absol stood proudly, behind a tiny, submissive Pikachu, their brightly coloured fur mingling rather nicely in the dim lighting of the restauraunt. Iris took a minute to speculate their movements, noticing the coy _swish swish swish _of the mouse Pokemon's tail while the larger one's ears pricked up, apparently on guard.

Iris had never seen such a quiet Pikachu! She was used to Ash's smacking other Pokemon around, locked in the heat of ferocious battles within the casket of it's own small yet mighty power; it was a marvel to watch as the tiny yellow mouse simply sat there in silence, a huge grin plastered onto it's face, the glee of being cleaned by another Pokemon evident in it's dark brown eyes, it's cheeks tingling ecstatically.

"They're so cute, Cilan!" Iris gushed, hands to her face as she tried to withstand the cuteness that stared back at her, though the Absol was much more reluctant to show it. She went to stand beside her boyfriend, wrapping an arm around his waist as she snuggled her head on his shoulder.

"I'm glad you like them Iris, but they're not here to stay. Me and my brothers are just looking after them for a friend, but once she's back on her feet, they're going back." explained Cilan, his hands performing eccentric gestures before they fell flat, one of them going to Iris' waist while his other free one went back by his side.

"Do they have names? And who's your friend? Is she close to you and you brothers?" she questioned feverently, so obviously curious. Cilan laughed, surpirsing her with his heartiness.

"So many questions!" he chuckled, kissing the top of her head lovingly. "Our friend is Lucy. She runs the poke-mart section in the poke-centre. Not to sound immature and improper, but Cress holds some obvious adoration for her. He's always smiling when she's there. Chili... well, not so much since he's been," the young man paused, seemingly uncomfortable. "..."at it" with Ruby. And not so secretively either. But anyway, she's ever so sensitive about those types of things and she claims he's too young and doesn't know enough to be engaging in such activites, though I personally believe that this just encourgaes him to prove her wrong. They still cooperate though." he finally paused to take a breath, Iris forever intent to listen. She watched as his glance alternated between the wall (the thing he seemed to have been staring at throughout the whole of his answer) and the two pets that were still obediently situated before the two teens. "Their names are Oliver and Lucky." he added, remembering her very first question with valiant effort. Iris nodded, processing the information.

"Those names suit them so well!" she cheered happily, getting to her knees and petting Oliver (the Absol), before her face contorted into an expression of horror. "C-Cilan! Lucky's t-tail!" she stuttered, refering to the rounded gap in the lightning shaped appendage. She could only stare as Cilan began to laugh, clearly humoured. A red hot blush settled on her face, like the warm gradients of a fading sunset, embarrassment fuelling her face not-so-discreetly. She didn't see what was so funny about missing flesh. "That's how you differentiate genders! Like Ash's Pikachu: he has a straight edged tail, indicating that he's a male. Lucky here is a female, thus explaining the different tails." Cilan finished knowledgabley, his laughter halting to a mere drizzle of chuckling.

"...Oh..." was all Iris had the strength to say, the blush eventually dying down as she understood what her boyfriend had said. "Why does she call her Lucky?"

"Apparently she's extremely... well... lucky. She's survived a car accident on Driftveil Bridge, a fire in Nacrene Museum and a Team Plasma attack on the boat-ride here from Sinnoh!" Cilan exclaimed enthusiastically. Iris just blinked, utterly surprised.

_"What exactly do we do with them? I mean, they're not for battling and they're not for competitng with. So... what are they for exactly? Do you just... look after them or something? I'm kinda confused..."_ Iris thought inwardly, smiling bashfully. Cilan seemed to notice and raised an eyebrow, but before he could get another word in, his brother's filed in, pushing, shoving and arguing.

"_You _are impossible!" Cress murmured, his voice dangerously low, glaring openly at Chili; slightly weary due to Cress' foul mood, Cilan flinched briefly. Iris simply scooched closer to him and watched the confrontation. It seemed as if the brother's hadn't even noticed that they were there.

"Look, it was just a joke! Lighten up! Otherwise Lucy'll _never _like you!" Chili argued with a grin, avoiding his brother's swatting hands, the blue haired Gym Leader so obviously trying to smack his little brother upside the head.

"Lucy is _not _even involved in this!"

"You want her to be."

_"Chili!"_

Everybody paused, the fighting brothers seeming to notice that they were not the only occupants in the room. Cress suddenly chuckled nervously, which was strangely out of his character; the guilty grin covered his face when he had finished, the atmosphere still as awkward as ever.

"H-How much of that did you hear?" he asked no one in particular, trying his best to seem nonchalant.

"Enough to make me wonder what it was he did." Iris answered eventually, Cilan nodding in quick agreement, though she wasn't sure whether it was to avoid the lack of excuses or genuinely because he was curious. Iris knew Cilan well enough to know that he tended to enjoy avoiding the arguements with his brothers and the awkwardness, he certainly didn't enjoy.

"Just making sure his dear Lucy was interested in him, that's all." Chili explained, glancing at Iris cooly. The pet-pokemon chirruped and he looked down, his face breaking out into a grin. Cilan and Cress exchanged glances as Chili, thinking nothing of his outspoken behaviour, got to his knees to pet them, cooing and crooning at them. Knowing nothing more than the gentle fingertips of affection, they gave in to the touch, which pleased both them and Chili greatly.

Cress shook with anger, before he turned and pointed accusingly at Chili, his eyes narrowed poisonously. "How is telling her that I like to cause trouble and that I wear clothes two sizes too small because I feel like it, even though I so obviously don't, getting Lucy to be interested in me?" he cried, clearly confused and upset. Iris resisted the urge to giggle. Though Chili was sometimes an even smaller kid than Ash, he was strangely enjoyable, his antics serving purpose as far as entertainment went; Ash, in her opinion, was just like a wet cloth: heavy when stuffed and dense.

"Hey, she said she liked bad-boys. I'm doing you a favour!" Chili stated smugly.

"No, no, no, Chili, she said she liked _bat toys_. Like, the plushy Zubats and such? She brought some in from Sinnoh? That was why she asked for my assistance in the first place? So that I could put them in the shop for her while she sorted through the medicines? Is any of this getting through to you, Chili?" Cress asked in a strained voice, clearly exasperated. Cilan and Iris exchanged a worried glance, slowly gesturing for the pets to come to them so that Chili would be left with no distractions.

Iris raised an eyebrow as Chili stood up and turned slowly to face his brother, sheepish to a "T". "Uh," she began, earning the attention of the seething bluenette and the scared-for-his-health red-head. "Me and Cilan are gonna... take Oliver and Lucky for a walk. Come on Cilan!" she semi-yelled, grabbing his cuff and dragging him away whilst the green haired Connoisseur nodded frantically, slipping over his own heels, though the Pokemon were still following them loyally. The other brothers just watched as they stumbled out of the dining room in an unorganised fashion, stuttering rubbish excuses and grinning bashfully as they made their way towards the door.

"See you later!" Iris called, waving frantically. Cilan nodded quickly and copied his girlfriend, waving over his shoulder as she pulled him out of the door. They didn't leave quite in time to avoid from hearing:

"You are _so _dead, Chili Sanyo!"

**X x**

Walking through the park with the sun raised high and the breeze on low, Cilan and Iris were fully content, as well as the Pokemon. They had been so well behaved - until they had come face to face with a Castelia Cone cart. Then all was lost. But the pair had managed to regain control of the pets and they were now just walking obediently beside Iris, Lucky especially fond of her and Axew. Oliver stuck to Cilan, most likely thinking that he'd blend in more with his black work pants; he didn't like being observed by nosey Unovians, though it was probably because he was rare over there, rather than simply hard to find. Briefly, the Pokemon had longed for their trainers, though they were having fun with these two as well, their company not as bad as once thought.

"They're so well behaved!" Cilan praised, patting Oliver.

"Yeah, but they look a little bored just walking around here. Oh! I have an idea Cilan! Can you spare a couple of dollars?" Iris asked, looking up at him with her honey brown eyes, doing her best to convince him. Cilan raised an eyebrow and, despite his curiosity, fished a few stray poke-dollars out of his pocket, handing them to her subsequently.

"What for?" he chuckled. She didn't reply, only winked at him as she darted off, obviously intent on getting somewhere. Cilan thought it best not to follow her, though he was scarcely embarrassed to say he enjoyed watching her run away like that, fast and concentrated, pure speed at foot as she darted forward like the fastest (yet most beautiful!) of animals.

"Sol...~" Oliver crooned, plopping onto the grass ungracefully. Cilan glanced downwards, curious, before he slowly followed suit, though he was much more organised once on the floor. It was actually Iris who had made him see that seating himself on the floor wasn't a bad thing, like he'd been taught by his perfectionist-parents; it made him feel free and careless, something he wasn't allowed to be when around people. Afer all, he had a certain reputation ad image to pertain to the general public. Casually, he reached an arm round the pet and stroked him behind the ears, starting out soft until the silver-streaked Pokemon growled low in his throat. Getting more confident, Cilan gingerly moved down to his belly and scratched experimentally, just waiting for Iris to get back.

He couldn't stop himself from jumping fabulously when he felt two hands on his shoulders and a high, happy voice cry out: "Boo!". He gasped for breath, scared out of his mind.

"Sorry Cilan, did I scare you?" Iris smirked, hands on hips. Cilan turned his head to look at her.

"Of course you did! Totally unexpected, like a freak rain shower on a bright Summer's day." he gasped, hand over his chest as he caught his breath. Finally. He spotted a bag in Iris' hands and rose an eyebrow, indicating to it with a pale finger, though his mouth remained still, no words needed for her to process the question.

_What have you spent my mony on?_

"Oh, it's just a little something for the Pokemon to play with." Iris grinned, pulling out a small blue disc. Cilan just raised his eyebrows further, which seemed to irriate the purple haired wild-child minutely. "Look, they looked bored just walking round so I thought... they'd enjoy a little 'Go Fetch'." she reasoned. How could he argue when she said it like that. Though there was slight agitation there, there was definitely good intentions and nievity. Cilan nodded his head and stood up.

"May I?" he questioned, gesturing to the toy. He smirked slightly as he noticed the Absol stand to attention, his tail flitting briefly from side to side. Iris nodded devously and handed him the disk.

"Throw it, Cilan." she urged, excited at the idea for some bizarre reason. Somehow, it just appealed to her. And throw it, he did. It went soaring through the air and both Lucky and Absol dashed after it, yipping excitedly and grinning from ear to ear. Literally. Eventually, being smaller, Lucky managed to dive in between Oliver's legs and leap into the air, successfully catching the frisbee, though her landing was shakey. Said Pikachu then had to run as an enstranged Absol was chasing after her.

Meanwhile, Iris watched the Pokemon play, fully content with herself. She listened to their appreciative calls of excitement and felt proud that she was the one to make their lives a little more interesting than simply sitting there and being admired all day. She suddenly felt a brief pang of guilt, realising that, until now, that was all she had been doing as well. In fact, if it hadn't been for Cress and Chili's arguement equalling to the need to get out of the Gym, she'd probably _still _be oogling them, drooling at their charm and cute antics. She felt slightly ashamed, but decided she didn't have to worry about it since they were so happy now. After all, it was the present that counted, not the past. Though sometimes accountable, the past could not and would not be changed, so she saw no point in stressing over ti and getting wound up and upset, only for it to mean nothing.

"That was a nice idea, Iris." she heard close to her ear and she snapped out of her thoughts and her distant stare, turning her head to find herself nose-to-nose with Cilan. His green eyes caught the bright sunlight and shimmered playfully at her. He leaned in and snagged a quick kiss, far too used to the action to feel uncomfortable at all, even in public. He pulled away moments later and breathed in her scent bravely, stroking her knee affectionately. All the while, she was grinning dopily, thinking how lucky she was to have a rather normal day turned into quite a fun, out-going, even slightly romantic outing.

"I'm just glad you appreciate it." she replied, a smirk tugging at her lips. He rose a brow (an action he seemed to do alot with her nowadays) and returned her smirk slowly.

"Oh I do," he stated, kissing her again, slightly more forceful than the last time. She accepted it gladly, combing a dark hand through his grassy locks, pushing him closer, almost forgetting they were in public. They shifted closer to one another, taking each other in the other's arms and confidently deepening their exchange. _Just _as their tongues touched experimentally, they were forced apart from each other and sent flying onto the grass.

Recovering slowly, Cilan sat up to see both of the Pokemon they had taken out leaning keenly on his girlfriend's stomach, Oliver clutching the disc in his mouth, a competitve glint in his eyes. Cilan stood up and dusted himself off habitually, turning to her and smiling sheepishly.

"...You're throwing this next one..."

**X x**

**Done! So, here's my pathetic attempt at entering the contest! Oh well, I tried! :D Oh, and please don't forget to review! Even though it's not a very valiant fight I put up to win the contest (I tried my best, however) I still sort of like this piece, though it's not one of my best (I don't think?). Either way, the only way I'll know is this:**

**If you review! So please do! (God, I'm such an awesome rhymist! xP) Yeah, please review! :D**

**~Jess~**


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